When the latest property measures were unveiled on Jan 13, it took most market watchers by surprise, mainly because we had been reassured several times that the previous rounds of measures announced on Aug 10 had been effective. Reaction from the local market has been negative but not too severe, as shown in a survey by property blog propwise.sg (see Page B13). Were these new measures necessary? Definitely. At the macro level, Singapore's real estate is far from being overleveraged. According to data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), as at the end of October last year, total housing loans amounted to $109 billion and the total number of completed private housing units stood at 256,513 units. This included private residences, from good-class bungalows down to shoebox apartments. Assuming an average value of each unit at $1.1 million, the total value of complet...